Mnemo Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing powerful cell therapies using a novel target identification engine, stronger T cells and best-in-class manufacturing, today announced the completion of its €75 million ($90 million) Series A financing.
The Series A financing was led by Casdin Capital, returning investor Sofinnova Partners, and an undisclosed investor, including participation from Redmile, Emerson Collective and Alexandria Venture Investments.
“Mnemo Therapeutics is on an ambitious mission to transform the lives of patients made possible by the technological leadership of our scientific founders Dr. Sebastian Amigorena, CNRS researcher at Institut Curie and Dr. Michel Sadelain of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,” said Alain Maiore, CEO, Mnemo Therapeutics.
“Based on the support from our premier investors and our team’s deep experience, we have completed a record-breaking Series A financing in France to develop powerful cell therapies that will achieve unprecedented breakthroughs for patients with solid and blood-based cancers.”
The Series A financing will allow the company to accelerate development of the EnfiniT targeting and next generation chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) T cell therapy platform combining the pioneering research from Institut Curie and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). EnfiniT is a transformational suite of technologies built around a novel epigenetic antigen (E-antigen) discovery engine, able to identify antigens with greater tumor specificity that are completely unique to cancer cells.
When combined with EnfiniT’s proprietary set of technologies that increase CAR T cell memory and persistence, they enable a range of therapeutic options that can deliver deeper clinical responses than current cell therapies. Supported with best-in-class, autologous and allogenic cell manufacturing, Mnemo’s EnfiniT platform will be able to overcome the current limitations of CAR T, creating cell therapies that are highly effective and scalable.
“Our belief in Mnemo’s unique, integrated approach to cell therapy compelled us to spearhead the seed round in 2019. Now, more than ever, we are confident in its potential to deliver a new treatment standard across a range of solid tumors and blood cancers, with the ability to impact other devastating diseases,” said Antoine Papiernik, Managing Partner & Chairman of Sofinnova Partners. “We are delighted to welcome a strong syndicate of international investors who now join us to support the power and promise of Mnemo’s groundbreaking technology.”
“Cell therapy is a fast moving field and the next generation of therapies requires smarter, stronger T cells with superior sensitivity for tumor-specific antigens,” said Eli Casdin, Chief Investment Officer and Founder of Casdin Capital. “We believe Mnemo has both and have been incredibly impressed with the scientific and technological capability at the company. We look forward to supporting the team as they significantly advance the field of CAR T and bend the mortality curve on hard to treat cancers.”
Founding CEO Maiore has assembled a highly experienced team headquartered in Paris, France, with a location in New York City, united by a deep history of pioneering achievements in CAR T therapy and an unwavering commitment to dramatically improve the future for patients. Mnemo’s scientific founders include:
– Sebastian Amigorena, PhD (CNRS researcher at Institut Curie)
– Michel Sadelain, MD PhD (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
– Isabelle Rivière, PhD (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
– Justin Eyquem, PhD (UCSF)
In addition to Maiore, the Mnemo management team includes:
- François Gaudet, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer
- Joseph Cerro, Vice President of Information Technology
- Stephanie Oestreich, PhD, MPA, Vice President of Operations and Head of Alliance Management “Mnemo is making tremendous advances in cell therapy research with an impressive, ambitious team of leaders expertly led by Alain, powerfully uniting the leading minds in CAR T from around the world,” said Dieter Weinand, Chairman of the Mnemo Board of Directors. “Ultimately, Mnemo has the potential to dramatically improve cell therapy and allow it to reach its full potential to fight tumors and overcome incurable cancers.”
Disclosure: Drs. Sadelain and Riviere have provided advisory services for, and have equity interests in, Mnemo. Dr. Sadelain also has intellectual property rights and interests related to cell therapy technologies that Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) has licensed to Mnemo. MSK has intellectual property rights and associated financial interests related to Mnemo by virtue of licensing agreements between MSK and Mnemo.
Mnemo Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on developing powerful cell therapies that create accessible cures. With its EnfiniT platform, a groundbreaking drug discovery engine, Mnemo applies a novel, integrated approach to cell therapy. Through precise identification of a new class of antigens with greater target specificity and the ability to efficiently reprogram T cells to increase their memory phenotype, as well as refine their engineering, Mnemo will transform the body’s immune response to overcome disease.
Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm in life sciences, specializing in healthcare and sustainability. Based in Paris, London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of professionals from all over the world with strong scientific, medical and business expertise. The firm actively partners with ambitious entrepreneurs as a lead or cornerstone investor to develop transformative innovations that have the potential to positively impact our collective future.
Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners is a deeply-established venture capital firm in Europe, with 50 years of experience backing over 500 companies and creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over €2 billion under management.